Past never melt down:Chinese football statues

Written by Dr. Chris Stride, a researcher from University of Sheffield

原标题: Bronze Ballplayers – help identify China’s Football Statues

This article was firstly published on 19th, June in Wild East Football. 

导读: 去过沈阳五里河旧址的朋友可能对矗立在那里的2001届国足雕塑群像记忆犹新，但国内足球主题的雕塑并不止此一处。

英国谢菲尔德大学管理学院讲师Chris Stride博士正在对世界各地的足球主题雕塑整理归档(具体可参见www.sportingstatues.com)。在这篇文章中, Chris Stride博士展示了他数据库中的25处国内的足球主题雕塑，这些雕塑分别坐落在沈阳, 北京,大连, 广州, 武汉等全国各地城市。但一个小团队的力量终究有限，Chris Stride博士的数据库很有可能有所遗漏。

如果您身边有，或者您知道国内某处有这篇文章中未曾提及的足球主题雕塑，请在体坛+评论处留言, 体坛+会联系您 ，并将信息转达给Chris Stride博士（帮助Chris Stride博士找到一处他所不知道的足球主题雕塑，体坛+将会赠予惊喜奖品!）。

 倘若您对自己的英语有自信，您也可以发邮件至info@sportingstatues.com自行联系Chris Stride博士的团队。

 You may or may not have noticed but hiding in public parks and squares all over China are an assortment of various football-related statues. British academic Chris Stride has embarked upon a remarkable project to document all of these monuments to the sport and is appealing to Chinese readers in his quest.

Football clubs, fans, and civic authorities are increasingly celebrating heroic players through sculpture. Whilst sports statues have become a feature of most popular (and not so popular) sports, the world’s football statuary is unusual in that it reaches beyond successful nations, clubs and subjects. This includes China, which has at least 20 football statues or statues groups.

However China’s many football statues differ from the rest of the world in their subject choices, design and location. For instance they frequently depict anonymous footballers or team groups rather than individual stars, often portray players tackling, and many are located at sports training facilities

I’m currently researching and writing an academic paper about China’s football statues. I’m also keen up to update my global database which you can view at www.sportingstatues.com. So I’d really appreciate help from Wild East readers to fill in some of the missing information on the statues I know about, pinpoint their exact locations, contribute some photos of them, and tell me about any I have not yet found!

The statues I know about are listed below. For each of these statues I’d love to know:

Who sculpted it?

When it was they unveiled – exact date is great?

What do the inscriptions say?

Also, for each statue I’d like…

Two or three photographs

A google map link for the location

Links to any online press coverage about any of these statues, or any others are also appreciated.

If you can help in any way, then please contact me on info@sportingstatues.com and/or leave a comment below…

The statues

A) Hui Tang Li

Yan Jian Red Square, Meizhou City, Guangzhou

B) Hui Tang Li

Unknown location

          C) Hui Tang Li

          Unknown location

       D) The World Cup 2002 team statues and giant ‘V’

       This is an extraordinary statue group and a triumphal V, originally at the Green Island training camp, now in Kepu Park in Shenzang, both statues I know a bit about.

       Apparently there were originally 44 players and coaches, but some of the coaches were removed due to involvement in corruption, leaving just 32 figures

E) Anonymous players

Lvshunkou, Dalian

       F) Anonymous players

       Tianjin

      G) Anonymous players

      Kaiyun

        H) Anonymous player

        Olympic Avenue Park, Beidaihe, Hebei

       I) Anonymous players

       Unknown location

      J) Anonymous players

      Hankou Zhongshan Park, Wuhan

      This statue dates from 1965, originally made in concrete, then recast in bronze

       K) Anonymous players

       Shenzhen Sports School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

        L) Anonymous players

        Langfang Sports Park, Langfang City, Hebei

       M) Anonymous players

       Unknown location

        N) World Cup statue 1

        Evergrande Football School, Qingyuan, Guangdong

        This statue has apparently been removed on the order of FIFA

       O) World Cup statue 2 (Pele and Bobby Moore)

       Evergrande Football School, Qingyuan, Guangdong

      P) Anonymous player

      Evergrande Football School, Qingyuan, Guangdong

         Q) Anonymous player

         Putian City

       R) Anonymous players

       Unknown location

           S) Anonymous players

           McMahon Square, People’s Stadium, Gulangyu, Xiamen

         T) Anonymous players

         Unknown location

         U) Anonymous players

         Unknown location

        V) Anonymous players

        Shenzhen stadium

       W) Anonymous players

       Olympic Park, Tongzhou District, Beijing, China

      X) Anonymous players:

      Unknown location

      Y) Anonymous player

      Wangfujin Street, Beijing, China